Last week, the central government added eight new cities, including Urumqi, Hohhot and Heilongjiang to the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), allowing residents to travel to the SAR without joining a tour group.
Speaking ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lee said he expects visitors from the eight cities to provide a large boost to Hong Kong’s tourism sector.
“The IVS is the main source of tourists for Hong Kong. It contributed 60 percent of all mainland tourist arrivals last year. The eight cities come with large populations and they also have significant economic growth, with high spending power,” he said.
“The eight cities are located in the north, northwest and northeast of China respectively. They are further away from Hong Kong, when compared with the other cities under the IVS. This will bring in a lot of overnight…
